Ella Minnow Pea

Mark Dunn

Ella Minnow Pea is the story of Nollop, a fictional island off the coast of Georgia whose inhabitants revere Nevin Nollop, creator of the famous sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." There is a large statue in Nollopton, the island's largest town, that has the sentence affixed to it. One day, the "z" drops from the statue and shatters on the ground. The Nollop high council decrees that this is a sign from the almighty Nollop that he no longer wants the island's residents to use the letter under pain of expulsion. While this throws the island's residents into confusion and despair, it's not that hard for residents of the island (save its bees) not to use the letter Z. Things get complicated, though, when more letters start dropping.

The book starts off slowly, but as it picks up speed, it becomes an interesting and amusing meditation on language and religion. It's worth your time, but give it some space in the early going.